From Techdirt: Having The Coffee Shop As Your Office.
Posted on December 17, 2003 12:13 PM. Filed under: wireless internet.Whenever the discussion comes up about coffee shops and restaurants offering free wireless connectivity, someone always says that it's a terrible idea because those people will crowd up the tables and never leave after buying a single cup of coffee. This seems to be a simplistic view of things, and some coffee shops that offer wireless have found that having people who come in and use the place all day as their office has been quite beneficial. The Dallas Morning News has a profile of one coffee shop that seems to host a large number of "regulars" who use it as their office. They tend to buy a lot of product, bring in more customers (for meetings and such), as well as be generally helpful. In the article, one guy who works every day at the coffee shop as a freelance graphic designer helped the shop design their new menus for free. As for the big fear of them hogging up the tables? It's no fun to be working when the place is overcrowded anyway, so most of them have no problem moving on at points when it's really crowded. Instead, they tend to spend the most time there at off-peak hours, when there's plenty of free space.